Started In 1997, This Railway Line Finally Inaugurated, Will Cut Delhi-Ranchi Time By 2 Hours

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu and Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das yesterday (9 March) flagged off a new passenger train on the Ranchi - Barki Chanpi - Tori railway line. The work on 29.5 Km stretch between Barki Chanpi and Tori was started in 1997 but took 20 years to complete mainly due to negligence during the tenure of past governments, both at the centre and the state.

Completed at a massive cost of about Rs 600 crore, thanks to two decade delay, the rail line will pass through Lohardaga and join Ranchi to Latehar in Tori. This means that the earlier route which used to take more than four hours will now be completed in just two and effectively, the time between Ranchi-Delhi will also be cut by a couple of hours.

Underscoring the focus of Indian Railways in Jharkhand, Suresh Prabhu said that “rail projects are making fast progress in Jharkhand with the initiatives of its chief minister.” “The rail budget share for Jharkhand in 2009 was merely Rs 497 crore, which was increased to Rs 2583 crore this budget and projects worth Rs 29,824 are underway in the state,” the Hindustan Times quoted him saying.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das, however, doesn’t seem in any mood to stay content with the Railways alone. HT reported that he is thinking of future travel technologies like the hyperloop now. “We will soon carry out a feasibility report and talk to railway ministry in this regard. We are exploring ideas to introduce the system between Ranchi and Jamshedpur or Ranchi-Jamshedpur-Dhanbad route,” the daily quoted him saying.